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Today I wanted to stop by and share a new Bible Journaling page I worked on this morning. I know I had promised you to come back every weekend with a new art journaling inspiration project and that has not happened in the last couple of weeks. That is why I decided to come today, just because, to share a page inspired on a verse that blessed my life yesterday during a new church we visited, called Living Hope. This is the church's verse and of course I had to journal it.

Hope is such a powerful word. We literally hold on to our hope during these trying times the world is going through. It seems like chaos, confusion and tragedy are everywhere we look at. But when that hope is a hope that relies on our Lord, we remain strong and positive. I know it is hard to realize when we are surrounded by personal challenges, bad health, family conflicts, social crisis, a suffering economy and more, but this verse is a reminder that we have a living hope in Jesus for a bright, good and blessed future.

My precious Instagram friend Laurie from @ScrapwithLauriesent me a package full of beautiful Bible Journaling stamps and other goodies! She is the one who influenced me to finally jump into Bible Journaling and she was absolutely right, I am in love with it. Well, I wanted to use something from her package and she just happened to include a stamp set with a sentiment about hope, that went so well with this verse. I combined it with one of my rubber stamps from Blossoms & Blessings by Unity Stamp Co.I just love this blossom branch stamp... It's perfect for your Bible margin too!

I prepped my page with TCW Clear Gesso Matte as always. (I will be sharing lots of tips on how this gesso works for my Bible Journaling on my next post!) I stamped the images and the sentiment with Archival ink and the started adding Distress Oxide Inks with a sponge applicator. I splattered some water to create that distressed effect and the drew gold splatters with an oil based marker.

I'm back with a new idea for Christmas, with a set of stenciled snowflakes card. I love winter themed cards and these backgrounds turned out so nice with the blue watercolored base. I think you'll find these cards are really easy to make. I prepared a short video to show you how I put made them.

All products used were sent by The Crafter's Workshop and Therm O Web. Nevertheless, all opinions on this post are my own.

Video Tutorial

Click below to watch in just a few minutes how I put together these snowy cards! Make sure to visit The Crafter's Workshop blog to take note of all the supplies used!

I tested a couple of modeling pastes from TCW and I found that the Light & Fluffy Modeling Paste is great for layering stenciled textures. As you can see on the picture below the paste held its shape on top of the Decofoil Gel and you can't see a ghost trace of the previous stenciled and foiled textured.

Hope you love this idea and that you find it useful during this Holiday Season. For more creative ideas for all your crafts projects subscribe to the blog (on sidebar). For more project ideas using stencils make sure to follow The Crafter's Workshop! That's all for now. Until next time!

Welcome to our last blog hop of the year! It's been an incredible crafty year, with lots of inspiration projects to share and today is no exception. Join us as we share a beautiful collection of Christmas projects featuring Therm O Web products and Graciellie Design Digital Stamps.

Therm O Web
We are collaborating with Therm O Web today and I'm sure you will see more of their products on our projects throughout the month. They are ever so popular for their stunning Deco Foil transfer sheets -that you know I love-, their amazing adhesive -Zots, Zips, Foam Squares and more-, and this year they've added so much more to their collection with lots of Mixed Media products for crafters. They also continue growing their Deco Foil line with more colors and finishes... We are loving the new Gina K. Designs Glitter Foils and cardstocks and that is what you will see me featuring today!

New Christmas Poinsettias
My card for today features one of our latest digital stamp sets and it is called Christmas Poinsettia. The flower on this set has a wonderful vintage and organic feel to it. Of course, depending on how you color it the final look can go from rustic to very elegant.

Blog Hop & GiveawayLeave a comment today on every stop for a chance to win a $20 Gift Card to the digital shop. This time our designers will be sharing lots of creative ideas for all your Christmas crafts featuring Therm O Web products and many of their new Holiday release.

Tutorial & Supplies
I invite you to visit Therm O Web's blog to see the complete list of supplies and links. This card design although very layered is not complicated to put together and I know that you will be able to duplicate it translating it to different color schemes using different patterned papers and elements! Click below to watch the video tutorial and click here to subscribe to my channel and watch many other Deco Foil tutorials!

I promised I would be back with a new art journaling inspiration project today... This might as well become a habit! This time I have a page from Psalm 31 that I handdrawn and colored with PanPastel. The softness of the PanPastel goes so well with the bible pages and it so easy to blend and color with.

I knew I wanted a bold floral image on this page. I love floral illustrations and I had to try out this Magnolia here. I handdrawn the flower in pencil first inspired by a photograph online. This time I did not feel the need to prep my page because I was not going to be using any wet media on it. Then I started shading my flower starting with a 430.5 Magenta, adding highlights with 380.8 Red Oxide Tint and 100.5 Titanium White (trying not to touch the rest of the image and only blending it on the lightest spots of the flower). I also added 470.8 Violet Tint to create a little bit of shadows but since my coloring is usually whimsical it is ok if the tones shadows and highlights are so realistic. Finally I used 010 Colorless Blender where I felt it was needed, trying not to overblend because I still wanted those lines or streaks to show on my coloring.

The Sofft applicator with replaceable head (the one the looks like an eyeshadow applicator) is my favorite tool for coloring in detail smaller images. For the center of the Magnolia I used 220.5 Hansa Yellow. The lightest yellow you see is Hansa Yellow on top of water based white marker. (That is a nice trick if you do not have many colors and need to add some highlights.) I outlined the flower and added detail with waterbased paint markers and depending on area I was outlining I tried to use a color that layered subtly with the PanPastel colors... I used pink marker for the petals, yellow for the center of the flower, aqua for the branches.

I applied two light coats of fixative to my page, let it dry over night and came back the next morning to add some soft color around the flower. I used super soft tints 620.8 Phtalo Green Tint, 580.8 Turquoise Tint, and 680.8 Bright Yellow Green Tint with a stencil from TCW called Dramatic Floral and although the effect is very subtle it does add a beautiful blended look around the Magnolia.

This magnolia flower ended up measuring around 9.5 to 10 inches... That is bold for a bible but I have seen bolder illustrations around. Of course, this is only my second bible page so it is always an adventure, no matter what I draw on it.

As for the verse that inspired me to create this page, it was Psalm 31:24: "Be strong, and He will strenghten your heart". I believe in this verse so much. To endure and persevere while God is also doing His part, giving us strength, providing opportunity were there is only possibility and lifting us even if everyone around us is against us. This Psalm was a blessing to my life this week. I needed it in my life so much, this page.

And that, my friends, is what Bible Journaling is all about. When you transfer your heart to a page with what you have to give, the page gives back what it has for you and somehow a strong bond is created and the words that you meditate on are implanted in your heart forever. Such a beautiful experience.

Pin it

About PanPastelPanPastel has been generous enough to sponsor me this month as I adventured into the world of Bible Journaling. I encourage you to give them a try! They are so easy to use, to blend and there are just so many ways you can apply it to your projects. It remains as one of my favorite mixed medium and I know that you will love it once you try it. Click here and here to see previous posts using PanPastel.

About this rubber stamp kit
I designed the new stamps in the kitsSparkand Faith & Hope to fit your bible margin too, so feel free to try them out not only for paper crafts but also for cardmaking. It is my biggest hope that the sentiments and images in this kit can inspire you and your friends and family through difficult times and through everyday trials, big and small.

As always, I hope that my post inspires you to create, to believe, to make art and so much more. Thanks so much for reading. I will be back next Friday with another art journaling project to share. Until then.

Yes! Surprise! We have been working behind the scenes with Unity Stamp Company to bring you new rubber stamp kits! We have added 3 new kits to my rubber stamp collection for Unity and we couldn't be more excited! Today Unity's designers are sharing beautiful inspiration projects and I decided to join them too with this card and tag featuring images from the new Spark stamp kit.

The sentiments in this kit are very meaningful to me and I always, always try to encourage and lift people's spirit with every stamp set I design, because I know just how hard life can get at times... I believe that an uplifting word can make a difference. I hope that you love this kit and that you use it a lot too.

I absolutely love the color combination on these projects! I don't remember the last time I used a deep blue like this... I'm infatuated! (smile) But it all started with the coloring of the stamped images. The coloring usually determines what I will do next with my card design. I used Spectrum Noir markers in vintage blues for the butterfly on the tag and blues and turquoises for the one on the card. The caterpillar is colored with SN greens. I applied some SN sparkle to the images after I colored them and that added a nice shimmer!

I used beautiful patterned papers, most of them from Simple Stories. The bold blue background though is from DCWV. I played with color and mixed patterns quite a bit to create a modern and fresh combination. I love the final look of both the card and tag!

Shop our Stamps

Make sure to stop by Unity Stamp Co. shop today and grab some our new stamp kits! While you're there check out other new stamp kits released a little earlier this year. Join the new release party on social media and on Unity's blog. I'm sure there will be giveaways and lots of inspiration that you might enjoy! See you there.

Today I'm back with a new video tutorial with Therm O Web, featuring Gina K. Designs new Holiday line! I'm in love with everything in this line and I'll be showing you how I used the new Therm O Web Decorative die cuts, Foil-Mates and glitter Fancy Foils! I love everything in this new release and I know you will too!

I used beautiful papers from Simple Stories on these ornament tags. I love the more muted, retro color scheme of this paper pack. This one's called Very Merry and I enjoyed working with it so very much.

Video Tutorial & Supplies

Click below to watch the video tutorial. All details on the steps I followed to make this tags can be found on the video. The complete supply list can be found on the video description on YouTube and also on Therm O Web's blog. I've posted additional pictures on Therm O Web so make sure to visit their blog too!

That's all for now. Make sure to like and share this video. Become a follower by clicking the subscribe button on my YouTube channel for more project ideas and tutorials. That's all for now! Until next time.

Every year I try to create small gifts for each holiday for my son's teachers and for family friends. I try to come up with different ideas each time. This time I decided to share one of the projects I'll be preparing for the Holidays... A decorated Christmas Gift Box that comes with a coordinating card.

This idea started off with this card. This is -I believe- my first purple Christmas card ever and I find the color combination to be so elegant. I used beautiful papers from Paper Temptress and stunning ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon. I'm also featuring stamps and papers from my new Holiday collection.

This stamp set is called Cheery Christmas and you can find it in digital format here. Of course, we have made these images available also as a rubber stamp kit at Unity Stamp Company (which is so detailed). I decided to use the digital version of this stamp set for this card. I sized the Christmas wreath and sentiment to fit the entire front of my card. I colored the wreath with Spectrum Noir markers blending a deep purple color with dark green and then adding highlights with a lighter green to a few sections. To make the image pop I added light green ribbon around the wreath and then made a triple bow with this lovely textured purple ribbon, which I attached to the bottom of the wreath image. I made the bow by hand. You can find tutorials on YouTube in case you want to try it out... It's not hard at all! I adhered the wreath on an Eggplant card panel that I also layered with a piece of patterned from the new Holiday Traditions Digital Paper Pack.

Although the sentiment I used here is also digital, I was able to heat emboss it. I used a non-porous parchment vellum paper which allows the ink to sit on the surface and gives you time to pour embossing powder on it and heat set it. I have a quick how-to video on this technique here.

Once my card was ready, I came across this box my husband left in the living room. I usually store all those pretty boxes from packaging and although this one wasn't the prettiest I've seen it happened to match the vintage patterned paper on this card... (Potential my crafty friends... All of us -I'm sure- have an eye for potential...) I started embellishing the box with die cuts and ribbon to match the card. I needed a bold accent and it needed to be large to go across the front of the box. Not even the largest poinsettia dies I own were large enough and so I went for a dive online and found this gorgeous poinsettia SVG... You gotta love the freedom of resizing stuff to fit your projects! I get lots of satisfaction on being able to size images and cutting files for projects such as this one.

For the inside of the box I added a pocket die cut to place the card and then you are left with enough space for a small gift! I would add some tissue paper for the gift to make it even more elegant! What do you think of this idea? It's a two in one project and you can do it different color combinations! I am planning to make a matching gift box for many other Christmas cards this year (like this one here).

Discount Coupon
I have a discount code for all my followers, old and new! Get 15% off when you add all 5 new stamps and papers from our Holiday Collection to your cart. Just enter code HOLIDAYS2017 during checkout. Click here to visit the shop.

That's all for today! I truly hope you find this idea useful! There are more Christmas cards on the works and I'll be sure to share those tutorials here with you. I'll be back on Thursday with a new video and also some wonderful news that I know my followers will be happy to hear! Until then.Sharing with: Christmas Card Throwdown - Sketch / Weekly Christmas Card Challenges

So you have a new art journal... A few questions come out of no where to haunt you... Where do I start? Will I ruin my journal? Can I fill all these pages? Well, have a little faith! That's the first ingredient. And then, I'd tell you to relax and have fun, but I know it's not always easy... Let me tell you what my experience was!

Well, yes, I've finally started art journaling... First on my journaling bible (see that post here) and now on a proper art journal... I'd say the process starts even before having the actual journal... Remember that there are many kinds of art journals out there and each of them was made for a different purpose. I'd say you should go for the one that you can afford, a journal that holds the media you plan to use well and of course something you feel comfortable with (meaning size, paper color, paper texture, etc.) I, for instance, enjoy a hard cover, small journal (reminds me of old books). In this case I went for a Strathmore 500 Series Softcover Mixed Media Art Journal, 5.5"x 8". I chose a mixed media kind because I know I'll be using it for everything...

I recommend that before starting a journal you try to watch a few videos here and there to see what you like the most, that way you can start gathering supplies and ideas to help you express yourself freely on your new journal. I was ready. I have been flirting with the idea of art journaling for what seems to be too long and I have gathered more than enough supplies to start. It's been a slow process but a steady one and now I know exactly what I want to draw and write and decoupage, etc. on my pages.

This is my first page. It's not really a page, it's actually the inner cover of my journal. One thing I suggest if you plan to do this too is to prep the page with matte clear gesso... I didn't do that and the page suffered in consequence... But I love it anyways and that's an important reminder... When you pour your heart into a page, you will always find something to love in it, so be encouraged, you can do this!

The day I started my journal I was feeling a bit tired and I needed to just sit on the couch and relax. So I decided to grab my journal and a pencil to sketch some detailed flowers on my journal. Being relaxed and knowing always that this book is only mine gave me the freedom to play until what I was sketching became something else.

When I was done with these flowers, somehow I could almost see a girl with flowers on her head floating on my page. The process came about so naturally that all I can really tell you is to be yourself, draw and do what you love and you will be filling your pages in no time.

Adding a Shimmery Finish with PanPastel
If you follow me you know that I've been into drawing faces this year and I've been strongly influenced by my teacher -as I call her- Jane Davenport. I used her new Aquapastels (watercolor crayons) to color my girl and I just love that raw and bold touch they gave her. But I wanted to add some shimmer to the image and I had just the perfect medium for that: White Fine 011 Pearl Medium PanPastel. This PanPastel color is translucent and very, very shimmery... I used my fingers to directly apply and distribute some White Pearl on the pink part of my girl's hair. I love Pearl PanPastels so much I also ended adding some 953.5 Pearlescent Red to her cheeks too!

I used Micron pens to trace my flower sketch and afterwards for this girl illustration. But I also used an Inkredible pen by Jane Davenport on the face and hair outline to have the ink melt a bit with the watercoloring. I kept the detailed flowers in their original form, with no coloring, to remind myself of how this page actually started... I never thought these simple flowers will bring to life this sweet girl. That comes to show how spontaneous art journaling can be and I totally encourage you to feel free within the pages of your journal to experiment, play, learn and create a beautiful artistic outlet for yourself.

Thanks so much for taking a minute to read this post. If you're new to art journaling I hope everything I shared helps you in one way or another. Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter so you don't miss any of my future art journaling posts! I'm sharing them every Friday when I can. So stay tuned! Until next time.

About me

Welcome to my blog. I'm Gracie Chavez, owner and creative designer at Graciellie Design. This is where I share all of my favorite crafts and arts related ideas, tutorials, projects and products. Hopefully you'll hang around with me over here for lots of inspiration, freebies and creative fun!